


Football Dads

by HeyJealousy09



Category: Glee
Genre: Daddies!Klaine, Football
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 16:08:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3774946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeyJealousy09/pseuds/HeyJealousy09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daddies!klaine dealing with a football playing boy who has no interest in being a singer or dancer. Instead of a bowtie wearing, dancing in loafers in boy. They have a running around the house in muddy cleats and sweaty pads boy. How Kurt and Blaine deal with the unxpected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Football Dads

“Come on Dad, you don’t know if he will even like football.” Kurt rolls his eyes but also smiles at his own Dad as he tries to hand his first grandchild a football.

“Yeah, and you don’t know he won’t.” Burt answers his son but his eyes never leave the dark headed bundle of joy in his arms.

***  
The first time it happens is a Saturday night in late October. After a 35 minutes ride on the subway with a very unhappy 4 year old, who has done nothing but complain about how his tap shoes hurt his feet, that last thing Kurt wants to do is spend his night watching football with his husband, Sam, and Puck. But when he opens his penthouse door that is exactly what awaits him. The smell of pizza smacks Kurt in the face and beer bottles sitting beside the trash can. Not in the trash can, but beside the trash can. Kurt puts on his best face and asks sweetly to see Blaine in the kitchen.

However, all his anger fades as Blaine comes bounding in the kitchen like an overgrown puppy. His smile spread across his face that still gives Kurt butterflies even after all these years. But Blaine stops short when he sees the look on Kurt’s face.

“I promise I’ll clean up when the guys leave. But I haven’t gotten to watch football with Sam since he was last here for Rachel’s opening night. And when Puck heard Sam was going to be here, he took the train in.” Blaine rushes to explain.

“It’s not just that. I am starting to think Oliver will never like dance. He complained all the way home about this tap shoes. I am starting to doubt us spending all that money to put him in an arts preschool. He seems miserable. You should have seen him tonight at the recital, he wouldn’t even smile while he was doing his routine.” Kurt let the tears float to the top, but he blinked them back before they could fall. Suddenly Blaine had his arms around him and his chin tucked tight in his neck.

“Honey, give him time. It’s only been a couple of months. Now come on, pretend to watch football while I pretend to not notice when that you are secretly reading Vogue on your iPad.”

Blaine always knows the right thing to say to make Kurt forget their problems for just a second. Kurt allows himself to be lead into their living room where the sight before him made both him and Blaine pause for a second in the doorway. The TV volume was up more decibels that could should be considered normal. Puck was spread out on the couch with a half drunk beer still in his hand. But the sight that just for a second made Kurt question everything about himself was Sam and Oliver. Oliver was tucked neatly in Sam’s arms where Sam sat on the floor with his back leaned against the coffee table. Oliver had never looked so interested in what was on the TV before. His eyes were glued and for the first time all day, he was just quiet. Blaine elbowed his stunned husband. Kurt stuttered and then just followed Blaine to the couch. How in the world could his son like football?

Kurt spent that night tossing and turning. He questioned everything he had done for Oliver as parent, even prior to his birth. He just assumed his child when be into the arts. With his or Blaine’s DNA (they still pretended they didn’t know but with Oliver’s bouncing curl there is no way he wasn’t Blaine’s) he just assumed his child would want to sing or dance. Up to this point Oliver loved it. When he was a baby he would squeal with delight as Kurt danced around the living room holding Oliver in his arms while Blaine sang them the latest Katy Perry or Mercedes Jones hit. He started walking at 9 months old because he couldn’t wait to dance around with his Daddy and Papa. Then something changed.

They enrolled him in the most prestigious arts preschool in New York and he hates it. He won’t even sing around the house before bedtime anymore. He still laughs while Daddy and Papa do it, but he will not join in. He does nothing but complain about how the shoes hurt his feet or that the costumes are itchy when Kurt picks him up. He seems to be over it by the time Blaine comes home, so Blaine just thinks Kurt is the one overreacting when they whisper about it after Oliver has gone to bed.

The second time is the next Saturday. The weekend is a long weekend for the Anderson-Hummel family. Kurt and Blaine have both taken Friday off and have kept Oliver out of preschool. He doesn’t have a recital coming up for another month. So it is the perfect time for Burt and Carole to make yet another trip to NYC to see their three favorite boys.

They spend Friday in Central Park and walking around the city, letting Oliver point out his favorite things. Burt and Carole laugh along with him while Blaine and Kurt hang back and just watch the grandparents with their boy. Their hands are linked at their side and Blaine cannot help but relax into Kurt’s warmth.

“It’s like discovering the city all over again, isn’t it?” Kurt asks while Oliver gets excited about his ‘4th favorite building’ he only likes it because of the bright mural on the side, but Kurt wouldn’t have noticed the beautiful art otherwise. It shows a young man sitting on a dock with a fishing boat way out in the distance with the quote ‘You’ll never reach your dreams, if you don’t get your feet wet.’

‘Maybe he’ll be an artist” Kurt thinks to himself.

“He is only four Kurt, he has time to figure it out all.” His husband answers next to him. Kurt looks at him shocked, even though he shouldn’t be. Blaine has been able to read his mind for years.

“I know, but sometimes I feel like I don’t know him at all.”

The subject is dropped until the next night. Kurt and Carole are in the kitchen making Kurt’s famous chicken alfredo and Carole’s cheesecake. While Blaine, Burt, and Oliver are in the living room making a mess Kurt is sure of it. A few minutes later a little voice that he recognizes all too well screams a phrase Kurt never thought he would hear coming from that voice.

“TOUCHDOWN!!!”

Kurt walks quietly into the living room to see Blaine and Burt both giving Oliver dirty looks as Oliver prances around the coffee table with his hands raised in the air.

“Boys, what is going on in here?” Carole asks making Kurt jumped as he didn’t realize she was behind him.

“Well, your grandson has decided he likes Texas A&M who is beating the Buckeyes by 14.” Burt grumples.

“He’s your grandson too, sir.” Blaine says with a glint of a smile in his eye.

“If he doesn’t root for the Buckeyes he isn’t” Burt says gruffly but as he watches Oliver get so much enjoyment out of the replays he can’t help but laugh.

Kurt just stares wide eyed at his son. He is in trouble. He wasn’t prepared for this.

***  
A 10 year old and very strong willed Oliver comes bursting into the kitchen, dressed in his best jeans and a OSU Buckeyes t-shirt that Burt had sent him for his birthday that year.

“Daddy and Papa, I would like to speak to you in the living room.” With that Oliver spins on one heel and exits the kitchen as fast as he came.

Kurt raises one eyebrow in his wake.

“You can’t be too mad, he gets that from you.” Blaine says laughing as he follows their oldest child in the living room. Kurt nods in defeat to the empty room and follows his husband. He is just glad they finally got Tracey down for a nap.

It looks like a Sports Illustrated Magazine has thrown up in their living room. There are pictures of athletes everywhere and in the middle stands Oliver with the karaoke microphone in his hand.

“Oh no you don’t, we can hear you just fine.” Blaine takes them microphone from his little hands and sets it back on the bookshelf. Just then Oliver starts belting out the Buckeyes fight song. Kurt barely recognizes it but he hears Blaine whisper-sing it along with Oliver.

Kurt knows this conversations has been coming for awhile and he hoped to avoid it.   
When the song is over, Oliver is smiling ear to ear at his dads. The smile that means he wants something.

“Daddy, Papa. I brought you here today because I would like to play football. Now, I know what you are going to say. I’m small. But I have looked through all the Sports Illustrated magazines that Granddaddy Burt sent me. What is in front of you is all the athletes that were told they couldn’t make it for any reason. Some of them are consider too short, or the wrong sex, or only had one leg. Now I have thought about this for awhile. I want to do this. I want to play football.” During Oliver’s speech Kurt can’t help but notice how much Blaine the boy has in him. He talked with his hands and he never dropped eye contact with them. Kurt never had that confidence when he was Oliver’s age.

Kurt surprised himself by answering first. “Okay.”

“Okay? What do you mean okay?” Blaine was in the middle of asking when Oliver leaped over the coffee table and into their arms.

“Thank you thank you thank you. I love you dadas!” With kisses to both of their cheeks he was gone back into his room, humming the fight song again.

Blaine just sat there stunned while Kurt was resigned to their fate.

“Kurt, we’ve talked about this. He is so small. He’ll get hurt.” Blaine takes his husband’s hand and looks into his eye.

“He might. And if he does, we will deal with that. But did you not see him Blaine? I cannot be the parent that denies his child an activity because the parents are too scared. What if dad had told me no when I told him I wanted to join glee club? Can you imagine what would have happened to me?” With that Kurt pats Blaine knee, plants a soft kiss on his lips and goes back into the kitchen to finish dinner.

Later that night the kids are tucked in tight and Blaine and Kurt are laying blissfully in bed. The sheets kicked down around their feet and the soft breeze from the ceiling fan cooling their overheated skin.

“I think I made a mistake. What if he gets bullied? What if the other kids make fun of him for having two dads? What if the pressure is too much?” Kurt asks mostly talking to himself.

“Did you see him at dinner? I haven’t seen them that relaxed and happy in a long time Kurt.” Blaine answers softly. He still was worried all the way to his core that Oliver would get hurt on the field.

“So we are going to be football Dads?” Kurt asks locking eyes with his husband.

“We are going to be football Dads.”

***  
Kurt and Blaine sat in the stands with a blanket thrown over their legs and another one wrapped around their shoulders. Their hands linked together as if holding on for dear life. You would think that after a while, as a parent, you would get use to watching your child on the field. That it would not worry you as much. That you would trust the universe to take care of your child. Oliver has been playing football for 7 years, but everytime he receives a snap both of his parents hold on to each other for dear life. It isn’t until Oliver is running into their arms after the game that they let go of each other.

This time it’s different. It is the State Championship. There is so much more on the line for Oliver. He has already received numerous scholarships offers for colleges around the country, but the one he has his heart set on is in the stands tonight. Kurt has half the mind to find him and let him know exactly why OSU would be happy to have a bright talented boy like Oliver. But Blaine keeps him grounded. Blaine is always there to remind him that he cannot fight Oliver’s battles anymore. Oliver must do this on his own. If by chance OSU isn’t interested, there are dozens of other colleges that would love to have him.

Kurt breathes deeply as the last few minutes of the game play down. It has been a tight one, but Fordham Preparatory had this one in the bag as soon as Oliver heard the OSU scout was going to be there. He has played the game of this life tonight, throwing for over 600 yards and 4 touchdown passes. Oliver might be small for a quarterback but he always had the Anderson-Hummel determination.

There is a small part of Kurt that is worried that Oliver is so headstrong about OSU because of Burt. Since his second heart attack last year, Oliver has done nothing but talk about OSU. Before the week long trip to Ohio to get Burt back on his feet Oliver talked about several schools, he was considering Florida State, Tennessee, UCLA, and even Alabama. Blaine talked Oliver into taking a campus tour of OSU, and Oliver has talked of nothing since. Part of Kurt hurts that his only son wants to go to the one place that Kurt could not wait to get out of but the other part of Kurt cannot help but be proud of how determined and strong willed his boy can be.

If OSU is where he wants to go, Kurt knows he will make it happen.

***  
It is Oliver’s junior year of college and OSU is beating Michigan by 3. It is also the moment that Kurt and Blaine’s worst fear comes true. They are watching the game on TV when it happens, but they both see it. The tackle, the twist of the knee, and the split second too long that it takes Oliver to get up. They see the coaches and assistants rush to him and it cuts to commercial. That is all it takes for Kurt to get his Dad on the phone and Blaine to start looking for tickets to Ohio.

They arrive the next morning and rush the hospital room. It’s a common football injury, torn cartilage in his right knee. He will be out for the last game of the season, but he will play football again. The surgery is scheduled for a couple of days out and Kurt and Blaine inform their respective supervisors they will be out of work for at least 2 weeks.

That night after Oliver all but chases them out of his hospital room, the weight of the situation hits Kurt and Blaine. They are in a fairly nice hotel room, for Ohio Kurt guesses, flipping through the channels when Blaine lets the first tears falls.

“Sweetheart he’s fine.” Kurt tries to soothe him.

“I just pictured him at 11, when he got hurt the first time. He clung to me and cried and was so upset. And tonight, our boy, no, our young man did not even want us there in the hospital room. And I know it could have been a lot worse, but he will always be my little boy. I will always want to protect him.” Blaine tearfully sobs.

Kurt wraps Blaine up his arms and breathes in his scent. “He’ll be fine. Surgery in a couple days. Physical therapy for a few months and he will be back on that field next year.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” Blaine pushes away from Kurt upset because he feels alone in his anguish.

“Because he is our son, Blaine. He is not going to let this stop him and we should not let it stop us. He has been hurt before and he has bounced back. This will be no different.” Kurt whispers to him.

“You always know the right thing to say my love.” Blaine says “Should we call Rachel and update Tracey on what’s going on before bed?”

As if she knew she was being talked about Kurt’s phone lit up with Rachel’s face.

He put it on speaker so they both could talk to Tracey. Her first question was how her brother was doing but once she knew he was going to be fine, she turned the conversation back to her and about how much fun she was having with her godmother. Kurt and Blaine could hear Rachel singing in the background and knew exactly what kind of fun they were having.

After talking to Tracey, Kurt breathed deeply before calling Burt. He knew if Burt had his way he would be sitting the hospital all night, but with his health Kurt told him to stay home and wait for his call. Burt had grudgingly obliged and he answered Kurt’s call on the first ring.

Burt went on a rampage about how the ref should have thrown a flag when Oliver went down but deep down he knew it was a clean hit. He just wanted someone to be mad at and right now that person was the ref.

When he finally hung up the phone with his dad, Blaine’s lips were on his. “Make me forget our son is in the hospital.”

***

“When Oliver first came to me and Blaine and had the nerve to ask to play football. My first reaction was to say no. He was such a small kid. But Oliver is nothing but determined. I hear he gets that from me.” Kurt pauses while everyone laughs. “I relented, quite easily if I remember correctly. This family has spent countless hours at practices. I cleaned up more mud from dirty cleats then I care to recount. But Oliver, my boy, it was all lead up to his moment. Your papa and I could not be more proud of you.” Kurt toasts and meets his son eyes who despite his best efforts has tears streaming down his face. Kurt notices Oliver reaching for his girlfriend’s hand. He has always needed close contact, just like Blaine. Oliver nods once to thank his dad and Kurt sits down at the head of the table. Everyone cheers and the rest of the meal goes smoothly.

That night after everyone has gone to bed, Blaine comes bounding into the room Kurt and Blaine are sharing for the next few days. While the lines around his face can’t lie about his age he looks like the young teeenager Kurt fell in the love with.

“I cannot believe tomorrow we will be watching our son play in the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl Kurt. This is it. This is the Tony Awards of the football world.” Blaine says playfully. Kurt throws a pillow across the room and it lands right on Blaine’s face.

“I know that! I am actually very proud of my football knowledge.” Kurt says slipping under the covers.

It seems like the whole family has flown out to Arizona to watch the game. Kurt, Blaine, Tracey Burt, and Oliver’s girlfriend, Savannah are sitting in the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale ready to cheer Oliver on. The rest of the clan including Carole and Rachel’s family are at a hotel room in the city where they have rented a conference room to watch the game. Kurt knows in his heart that win or lose the group of friends and family will be celebrating tonight.

The game keeps Kurt’s gut in knots. He keeps thinking about the night that Oliver ran from his dreams and how he found the courage to run back. Oliver had been so excited to be drafted to the Buccaneers in the 3rd round. However, he only lasted a year and saw very little play time. He had been devastated. During the off season he came to spend a couple of weeks with Kurt and Blaine. He was sullen and withdrawn. Kurt woke up alone one time to hear murmuring from the kitchen. He walked in to find Oliver sitting at the table with his head down and Blaine warming milk on the stovetop. Any other time Kurt would have smiled at Blaine trying to get the milk just right but the sight of Oliver so upset broke his heart into a million pieces.

“I don’t know what to do Papa. For the first time I am wondering if football is what I really want to do.” Oliver says but doesn’t lift his head up.

Kurt comes up behind him and places both hands on his shoulders. He feels Oliver relax slightly with the touch.   
“Oliver, son, I was the last person that wanted you to play football. But when you were lying hurt in that hospital bed in high school, I prayed to whoever would listen that you would get to play again. I bought jerseys for you, and I actually wore them.” What his dad says makes Oliver laugh. The tension in the room is broken and when Blaine passes out the mugs of warm milk they are all a little lighter.

“Son, just keep fighting. Keep dreaming. You are a great football player and an even better man.” Blaine pats his son on the back and kisses the back of his head. “But it’s now 3 in the morning, and your dad and papa need their beauty sleep.”

Kurt and Blaine are almost of the kitchen when the soft voice stops them. “Thanks Dadas.” The old nickname for both of them rolling off his tongue. Oliver hadn’t used it since elementary school.

“You are welcome Ollie.” Blaine voice is thick with emotion.

It was a couple of weeks after that night when they found out he would be coming back home to New York. Now, just 3 years later here they are. The clock is winding down and Kurt and Blaine see it so clearly. The victory formation.

The crowd erupts and die-hard Jets fans storm the field all around Kurt and Blaine. The confetti is everywhere, people are screaming all around them but through it all Kurt and Blaine never let go of each other. Even with all the people congratulating them, their hands stayed linked.

Oliver goes out that night to celebrate with his teammates, as he should, while his whole family celebrate back at the hotel. It isn’t until about 3am when Kurt and Blaine are falling exhausted into bed. Kurt glances at his phone and realizes he has a missed call and a voicemail from his oldest child.

The voicemail is simple, but it brings tears to Kurt’s eyes.

“Thanks dadas. I could have never done this without you. I love you.”

Kurt hands Blaine the phone so he can listen to the message. Blaine hands it back with tears streaming down his face.

“We are football dads.” Kurt says kissing the tears from Blaine’s face. 


End file.
